Contrary to fathers' rights propaganda, father perpetrators (along with stepdads and caretaker boyfrends) dominate the most vicious crimes against children: sexual assault, abusive head trauma, murder-suicides, crimes involving gun violence, and other similar forms of physically violent/fatal child abuse. And as more dads are providing child care (either because mom is working and can't find other care, or because dads are increasingly getting unsupervised visitation/custody through the family courts), more dads are are being found guilty of basic child abuse and neglect as well.

10/25/15 -Because of severe time constraints, we are no longer able to do regular updates at Dastardly Dads. We will occasionally post articles on general studies on child abuse/domestic violence, news pieces involving abusive fathers in custody/visitation situations. We wil also be updating the Killer Dads and Custody lists, while looking for a better, more accessible platform for the data.

7/11/16 - We started this blog on June 24, 2009--just over seven years. And like all good things, it's time to bring this project to a close. It has served its purpose. We have close to 10,500 postings regarding fathers and child abuse, with hundred of those cases being enabled by the family courts, social services, and others in authority. The documentation is clear. It is now time to stop documenting and put that energy into changing the situation that puts thousands of mothers and children at risk every day.

VICTORVILLE — A Hesperia father and his girlfriend were sentenced Thursday to 20 years to life in prison for their roles in starving the man’s two young children, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s office said.

Erik Austin Flores, 30, and Mariah Rita Sugg, 23, were convicted of torture and child abuse last month. Three children, aged 4, 5 and 7, were removed from Flores’ home last year. The two younger children were severely starved, while the 7-year-old had better nutrition because he was given food at school.

“I am so grateful that the jury took care to find justice for these children,” Deputy District Attorney David Foy said in a statement after the conviction last month. “These kids were starved to the point where witnesses described them as looking like concentration camp survivors and zombies.”

Flores and Sugg were arrested in August after authorities determined that they were responsible for the emaciated children. The couple lived together and jointly took care of the children from March 1 until June 6, the DA’s office said.

The children were removed from the home after county social workers were tipped off by employees at Marinello School of Beauty in Victorville, who observed the “extremely thin” and “listless” children on May 16, according to the DA’s office.

Flores’ 7-year-old son testified last month that he and his siblings were beaten, forced to do push-ups, sit-ups and run in place for hours and would be punished for slowing down.

The child testified that they were given breaks only to eat small portions of food, Foy said.

A forensic pediatrician for Loma Linda University Medical Center testified that the 4-year-old, a girl, would have died soon had she not been hospitalized.

A family friend told the Daily Press in November that Sugg had “just got caught up with this guy and it’s just a mess.”

(Flores) put it all on Mariah (Sugg), and he wasn’t at work 24/7 like he said was,” Linda Clearwater said.

Clearwater and Sugg’s mother, Brenda Sugg, said Mariah Sugg had been in classes below her age group since elementary school and had a fifth-grade reading level in high school.

“We asked about getting a mental evaluation for Mariah,” Clearwater said, “but the court said it wasn’t necessary.”